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Professor Martha Kane Savage

PhD. 1987 Geophysics, Univ. Wisconsin, Madison; M.S. 1984 Geophysics, Univ. Wisconsin, Madison; B.A. 1979 Physics, Swarthmore College

Professor Geophysics

  • Office: CO 522
  • Phone: (04) 463-5961
    (international: +64-4-463-5961)
  • Email: Martha.Savage@vuw.ac.nz

Research Interests

Seismology and its relation to Tectonics and Earthquake Hazards. More specifically:

Seismic Anisotropy

The study of seismic anisotropy is a rapidly growing field which is yielding information on the orientation of cracks in the crust and aligned minerals in the mantle. These can in turn be related to deformation within the Earth. This is very exciting, as it allows us for the first time to get an understanding of the strain, or the "structural geology" within the mantle. We are still in the fundamental stages of mapping this deformation, and determining the contributions from the crust and asthenosphere, and from past and present tectonic processes. Field programs in the United States and in New Zealand are helping to unravel relations between tectonic provinces and seismic anisotropy. Exciting developments are suggesting anisotropy can be used as a tool to study stress changes on volcanoes, which could lead to new methods of eruption forecasting.

Seismic Anisotropy in New Zealand

Earthquake Hazards

Earthquake hazards continue to cause great concern to the general public, and mitigating those hazards is an important part of applied seismology. My research in this area ranges from examination of properties claimed to be precursors to larger earthquakes, to determining statistically the likelihood of a moderate event being followed by a larger one, to working with other researchers to calibrate finite difference models of Wellington region earthquakes to measured ground motions.

Teaching 2006

(selected course notes)

GEOL 223 - Earthquakes and Earth Structure

Lecture schedule:

  • 9 May: Earth's structure and rheology
  • 12 May: Elements of plate tectonics
  • 16 May: Plate kinematics
  • 19 May: Mid-ocean ridges
  • 23 May: Plate reconstructions and geological evolution
  • 26 May: Subduction and continental collision

Lectures as presented:

Course notes:

The following notes are 3 slides per page. They are in colour but will print as black and white. Print at 'best' quality.

These version are 4 slides per page, without the space for written notes.

AVI move file - 4.6 MB

Excel Spreadsheet - 120 kB

Student involvement

PhD and Master's scholarship opportunities

I like to involve students in all facets of my research. I encourage them to participate in fieldwork, help with proposals, present their work at conferences and to write journal articles. Below is a list of current and past students that I have supervised, and what they are doing now.

Current Supervision

PhD Studentss:

Jessica Johnson (started August 2007; degree expected August 2010;  received prize for best student poster in Geophysics at the 2007 NZ Geological Society/ NZ Geophysical Society conference in Tauranga);

Rajasekhar Vadlamannati (started April 2006; degree expected April 2009);

 Sandra Bourguignon (started 2003; degree expected December 2008);

Sonja Greve (started 2003; degree expected February 2008).

Masters Students:

Andreas Wessel (started 2006; degree expected July 2008).

Bronwyn O’Keefe (degree expected May 2008)

  •  1 3rd year project:  Luke Jackson

Completed Supervision

Postdoc Katrina Marson-Pidgeon, Funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology 2002-2005.  Dr. Marson-Pidgeon completed her postdoctoral fellowship and is currently working as a Finite Element Modelling Assistant at GNS Science, Wellington.

Postdoc: Todd Nicholson, Funded by the Foundation for Resaerch, Science and Technology, 2004-2007. Current Position:  Statistical Analyst, Offlode Consulting Company, Wellington.

Completed Theses

PhD theses:

5.  Salmon, M. I., Crust and upper mantle inhomogeneities beneath western North Island, New Zealand: Evidence from seismological and electromagnetic data, PhD. Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 232 pages pp., 2007  (2002-2007) (Won Honourable Mention for student poster presentation at AGU in San Francisco 2005 for Margins Subduction Factory funds, and Outstanding Student Paper Award for the Tectonophysics section, 2005.  Presently Postdoctoral Fellow, Australia National University);
4. Duclos, Mathieu, Insights on Plate Boundary Deformation from Seismic Anisotropy in the New Zealand Upper Mantle, PhD. Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 210 pages pp., 2005. (2001-2005: First position post-study: Geophysicist, Geosphere Exploration Company, New Zealand.  Presently, Geophysicist, Spectraseis, Zurich, Switzerland)
3. Pulford, Anna Karen, Crustal structure and lithospheric doming: aspects of deformation along an obliquely convergent plate margin, New Zealand, PhD. Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 184 pp., 2002. (1999-2002) first position post-study: Postdoctoral Fellow at Australia National University (ANU)
2. Audoine, Etienne Louis, Upper mantle and crustal seismic anisotropy across the Pacific-Australian plate boundary, New Zealand, PhD. Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 215 pp., 2002. (1997-2002; Presently teaching Physics in, Paris, France)
1. Ozalaybey, Serdar, Seismic velocity structure in the western U.S. from  shear-wave splitting and receiver functions of teleseismic earthquakes, Ph. D. Thesis, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, 171 pp, 1996. (presently Associate Professor and Chief Senior Researcher at TUBITAK-Marmara Research Center, Earth and Marine Sciences Research Institute,Turkey)

Masters theses:

 

15 Andreas Wessel,Automatic shear wave splitting measurements at Mt. Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand, MSc thesis submitted January 2008, 206 pp.

 

14.  Clarke, Daniel, Velocity Modelling and Earthquake Relocation in the Rotorua and Kawerau Geothermal Areas, New Zealand, MSc thesis submitted November 2007, xxx pp. Daniel Clarke (started 2006; Won the 2006 prize for the best student talk on a geophysical topic at the 2006 NZ Geological Society/NZ Geophysical Society conference in Palmerston North.)

13.  Kuehler, Tanja, Search for temporal changes in seismic attenuation under Mt. Ruapehu Volcano, North Island, New Zealand,MSc thesis submitted March 2006, 87 pp. (presently Research Associate and PhD student, University of Karlsruhe, Germany).

12. Horspool, Nicholas. Investigating crust and upper mantle structure of northwestern New Zealand from receiver functions and surface wave phase velocities, submitted May 2005, 105 pp. Current position:  exploration geologist with a company called Xstrata   Won the 2004 NZ Geological Society/NZ Geophysical Society prize for the best student talk on a geophysical topic at the 2004 conference in Taupo.

11. Tormann, Thessa. Dynamic seismic hazard model for New Zealand, submitted February 2005, 238 pp. (presently PhD student, ETH, Switzerland).

 

10. Balfour, Natalie. Stress and crustal anisotropy in Marlborough, New Zealand: Frictional strength of faults and structure-controlled anisotropy, submitted Sept. 2004, 127 pp. (first position: Assistant Researcher, Australia National University: Present position, PhD student, University of Victoria, British Columbia).

9. Ma, Shu Qin. Calibration of Wellington 3D Ground Shaking Model, 163 pp., May, 2004. (Presently PhD student, University of Texas at Austin)

8. Gerst, A. Temporal changes in seismic anisotropy as a new eruption forecasting tool?, 184 pp., Mar. 2003  (1st equal for Royal Society talk competition, 2002).(presently a PhD student at University of Hamburg, Germany) Alexander Gerst.

7. Hofmann, S. D. Seismic anisotropy in the crust and mantle: A study at the western edge of the Central Volcanic Region, New Zealand, 135 pp. Dec. 2002. (presently scientific employee in natural disaster management at the University of Kiel.

6. Merrifield, Alistair, An Examination of Prospective Foreshock Probabilities in New Zealand, 173 pp., June, 2000. (presently a PhD student at School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney, Australia) Alistair Merrifield.


5. Miller, Victoria L., Possible Methods for Monitoring Mount Ruapehu Volcano:  Shear-wave Splitting and Ground Deformation using GPS, 108 pp., June, 2000. (presently a PhD student at Pennsylvania State University, USA; earlier, Emergency Manager, Upper Hutt, New Zealand)

4. Hicks, Bernice, Eruptions of Mt. Ruapehu, 1995-1996: A Comparison of Eruptive and Non-eruptive Volcanic Earthquakes, 175 pp.,  April, 2000. (presently Geophysicist at Geosphere petroleum consulting company, Wellington, New Zealand).

3. Matcham, Iain, Source mechanism determination using broadband data in the New Zealand seismic environment, 183 pp., December, 1999. (presently working at Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, Lower Hutt, New Zealand).

2. Marson-Pidgeon, Katrina, Seismic anisotropy beneath the lower half of the North Island, New Zealand, Master’s thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 72 pp., 1997. (presently Researcher at GNS Science,  New Zealand).

1. Lat, Che Noorliza, Seismicity and Tectonics of the Garfield Hills, Nevada, Master’s thesis, University of Nevada, Reno, 154 pp., 1989. (presently Lecturer in Geology Department, University of Malaysia).

Honours and Diploma Theses:

10.  Third year student project:  Davey, Richard, SCIE301: Azimuthal anisotropy of Red Mountain Ophiolite at the hectometric scale, 2006, 20 pp. (presently BSc Honours student at Leeds University)

9. Bardout, Matthieu, Local S-phase seismic anisotropy across the Taranaki-Ruapehu line, northwestern North Island, New Zealand., Graduate Diploma of Science in Geophysics, 181 pp. 2006. (presently BSc Honours student at Imperial College, London (?)

8.Kohler Nina. SKS wave splitting beneath the Marlborough Fault Zone, South Island, New Zealand, Diploma of Science thesis, 2003 (presently MSc student at University of Hamburg, Germany)

7. Tormann, (ne Rudolph) Thessa. Dynamic seismic hazard model for New Zealand, Victoria University of Wellington Diploma of Science thesis, 2003. (see above under MSc student at VUW) Thessa Tormann

6. Todd, Hilary. An investigation of upper mantle structure beneath the Tararua Ranges, North Island, New Zealand using receiver functions, Victoria University of Wellington, 82 pp., 2002.(presently Interpretation Geoscientist within BHP Biliton’s Falcon division).

5. Stewart, D. Earth velocity structure from an earthquake recording array, Victoria University of Wellington Honours thesis, 13 pp., 1998. (presently PhD student in School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, VUW)

4. Matcham, I.  Seismic anisotropy in the Wellington region from local events recorded at the IRIS station SNZO, Victoria University of Wellington, 44 pp., 1997. (see MSc)

3. Mercier, Ocean. Depth dependence of the frequency-magnitude b-value in New Zealand, BsC. Honours research project, Victoria University of Wellington, 14 pp., 1997 (Presently Lecturer in Maori Studies, VUW)

2. Marson, K. Seismic anisotropy in the Wellington region: Shear-wave splitting results, Victoria University of Wellington, 32 pp., 1996. (see MSc)

1. Rupp,  Stefan Foreshock Probabilities in New Zealand, Bs.C. Honours research project, Victoria University of Wellington, 23 pp., 1995. (presently Research Associate, Industrial Research Laboratories, Lower Hutt, NZ)

Publications since 2004

61. Shu Qin Ma,  Martha Savage,   Jiashun Yu, Modeling Ground Motion in the Hutt Valley, New Zealand , in press, New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering Bulletin, to be published in Dec. 2007.

60. S. Bourguignon, M. K. Savage and T. Stern Crustal thickness and Pn anisotropy beneath the Southern Alps oblique collision, New Zealand , in A Continental Plate Boundary:  Tectonics at South Island, New Zealand,, editors D. Okaya, T. Stern and F. Davey, American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Series 175, pp. 117-124, 2007.

59. Boyd, O. S., M. K. Savage, A. F. Sheehan, and C. H. Jones (2007), Illuminating the plate interface structure beneath Cook Strait, New Zealand, with receiver functions, J. Geophys. Res., 112, B06310, doi: 10.1029/2006JB004552.

58. Lin, Fan-Chi; Ritzwoller, Michael; Townend, John; Bannister, Stephen; Savage, Martha, Ambient Noise Rayleigh Wave Tomography of New Zealand, Geophysical Journal International, August 2006, in press, February 2007.

57. S.Bannister, M.Reyners, G.Stuart, and M.Savage, Imaging the Hikurangi subduction zone, New Zealand, using teleseismic receiver functions: crustal fluids above the forearc mantle wedge, Geophysical Journal International, doi: 10.111/j.1365-246x.2007.3345x, Vol. 169,pp. 602-616, 2007.

56. M. Savage, M. Duclos and K. Marson-Pidgeon, Seismic Anisotropy in the South Island, New Zealand, submitted to AGU volume, Geotectonic Investigation of a Modern Continent-Continent Collisional Orogen:  Southern Alps, NZ, editors D. Okaya, T. Stern and F. Davey, revised and accepted November 2006.

55. M. K. Savage, A. Tommasi, S. Ellis , J. Chery, Modeling Strain and Anisotropy along the Alpine Fault, South Island, New Zealand, submitted to AGU volume, Geotectonic Investigation of a Modern Continent-Continent Collisional Orogen:  Southern Alps, NZ, editors D. Okaya, T. Stern and F. Davey, Revised July 2006, accepted December 2006.

54. S. Bourguignon, T.A. Stern and M.K. Savage, Crust and mantle thickening beneath the southern portion of the Southern Alps, New Zealand, Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 168, issue 2, (Feb.) pp.  681-690 (doi:
10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03208.x 2007.

53. Martha K. Savage, J. Park, and H. Todd, Velocity and anisotropy structure at the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand from receiver functions, Geophysical Journal International, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03086.x, Vol. 168, pp 1034-1050, Feb. 2007.

52. Nicholas Horspool, Martha K. Savage, and Stephen Bannister, Implications for intraplate volcanism and back-arc deformation in northwestern New Zealand from joint inversion of receiver functions and surface waves, revised for Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 166, issue 3 (Sept.) 1466-1483, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03016.x, 2006.

51. Matcham, I., M. K. Savage, J. J. Taber and M. Reyners, Earthquake source mechanism analysis using New Zealand broadband data, NZ Journal of Geology and Geophysics, Vol. 49: 75–89,  2006.

50. Balfour NJ, Savage MK, Townend J., Stress and crustal anisotropy in Marlborough, New Zealand: Evidence for low fault strength and structure-controlled anisotropy, Geophysical Journal International, 163 (3), 1073-1086, doi:
10.1111/j.1365-246X.2005.02783.x, 2005

49. Mathieu Duclos, Martha K. Savage, Andréa Tommasi, Ken R. Gledhill, Mantle Tectonics beneath New Zealand Inferred from SKS Splitting and Petrophysics, Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 163, (2), doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2005.02725.x, pp. 760-774, Nov. 2005.

48. Gerst, A., and M. K. Savage, Seismic anisotropy beneath Ruapehu Volcano: A possible eruption forecasting tool,  Science, Vol. 306, pp. 1543-1547, 26 Nov. 2004.

47. Marson-Pidgeon, K. and M. K. Savage, Shear-wave splitting variations across an array in the lower North Island, New Zealand, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 31, L21602, doi:10.1029/2004GL021190,  (4pp) 2004.

46. Audoine, E. L., M. K. Savage, and K. R. Gledhill, Anisotropic structure under a back-arc spreading region, the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand, Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 109, B11305, doi:10.1029/2003JB002932,  (22 pp) 2004.

45. Marson-Pidgeon, K., and M. Savage,  Modelling shear wave splitting observations from Wellington, New Zealand, Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 157, 853-864, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2004.02274.x, 2004.

44. Merrifield, A., M. K. Savage, and D. Vere-Jones, Geographical distributions of prospective foreshock probabilities in New Zealand, NZ Journal of Geology and Geophysics, Volume 47 Number 2; 327-339, 2004.

43. Savage, M. K., K. M. Fischer and C. E. Hall, Strain modelling, seismic anisotropy and coupling at strike-slip boundaries: Applications in New Zealand and the San Andreas Fault, in Vertical Coupling and Decoupling in the Lithosphere,   Editors: Grocott, J., Tikoff, B., McCaffrey, K. J. W. & Taylor, G., Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 227, 9-40, 2004.

 
Updated: 14 Feb 2007 /
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